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<H1 class="no-header">curs_terminfo 3x</H1>
<PRE>
<STRONG><A HREF="curs_terminfo.3x.html">curs_terminfo(3x)</A></STRONG>                                     <STRONG><A HREF="curs_terminfo.3x.html">curs_terminfo(3x)</A></STRONG>




</PRE><H2><a name="h2-NAME">NAME</a></H2><PRE>
       <STRONG>del_curterm</STRONG>, <STRONG>mvcur</STRONG>, <STRONG>putp</STRONG>, <STRONG>restartterm</STRONG>, <STRONG>set_curterm</STRONG>,
       <STRONG>setterm</STRONG>, <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG>, <STRONG>tigetflag</STRONG>, <STRONG>tigetnum</STRONG>, <STRONG>tigetstr</STRONG>, <STRONG>tiparm</STRONG>,
       <STRONG>tparm</STRONG>, <STRONG>tputs</STRONG>, <STRONG>vid_attr</STRONG>, <STRONG>vid_puts</STRONG>, <STRONG>vidattr</STRONG>, <STRONG>vidputs</STRONG> -
       <STRONG>curses</STRONG> interfaces to terminfo database


</PRE><H2><a name="h2-SYNOPSIS">SYNOPSIS</a></H2><PRE>
       <STRONG>#include</STRONG> <STRONG>&lt;curses.h&gt;</STRONG>
       <STRONG>#include</STRONG> <STRONG>&lt;term.h&gt;</STRONG>

       <STRONG>TERMINAL</STRONG> <STRONG>*cur_term;</STRONG>

       <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>boolnames[];</STRONG>
       <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>boolcodes[];</STRONG>
       <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>boolfnames[];</STRONG>
       <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>numnames[];</STRONG>
       <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>numcodes[];</STRONG>
       <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>numfnames[];</STRONG>
       <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>strnames[];</STRONG>
       <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>strcodes[];</STRONG>
       <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG> <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>strfnames[];</STRONG>

       <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>setupterm(const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>term</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <EM>filedes</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>errret</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
       <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>setterm(const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>term</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
       <STRONG>TERMINAL</STRONG> <STRONG>*set_curterm(TERMINAL</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>nterm</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
       <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>del_curterm(TERMINAL</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>oterm</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
       <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>restartterm(const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>term</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <EM>filedes</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>errret</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>

       <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*tparm(const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>str</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>...);</STRONG>
       <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>tputs(const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>str</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <EM>affcnt</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>(*</STRONG><EM>putc</EM><STRONG>)(int));</STRONG>
       <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>putp(const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>str</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>

       <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>vidputs(chtype</STRONG> <EM>attrs</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>(*</STRONG><EM>putc</EM><STRONG>)(int));</STRONG>
       <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>vidattr(chtype</STRONG> <EM>attrs</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
       <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>vid_puts(attr_t</STRONG> <EM>attrs</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>short</STRONG> <EM>pair</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>void</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>opts</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>(*</STRONG><EM>putc</EM><STRONG>)(int));</STRONG>
       <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>vid_attr(attr_t</STRONG> <EM>attrs</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>short</STRONG> <EM>pair</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>void</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>opts</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>

       <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>mvcur(int</STRONG> <EM>oldrow</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <EM>oldcol</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>int</STRONG> <EM>newrow</EM>, int <EM>newcol</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>

       <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>tigetflag(const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>capname</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
       <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>tigetnum(const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>capname</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>
       <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*tigetstr(const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>capname</EM><STRONG>);</STRONG>

       <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*tiparm(const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*</STRONG><EM>str</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>...);</STRONG>


</PRE><H2><a name="h2-DESCRIPTION">DESCRIPTION</a></H2><PRE>
       These low-level routines must be called by  programs  that
       have to deal directly with the <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> database to handle
       certain terminal capabilities, such as  programming  func-
       tion  keys.   For all other functionality, <STRONG>curses</STRONG> routines
       are more suitable and their use is recommended.


</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Initialization">Initialization</a></H3><PRE>
       Initially, <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> should  be  called.   The  high-level
       curses  functions  <STRONG>initscr</STRONG>  and  <STRONG>newterm</STRONG> call <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> to
       initialize the low-level set of  terminal-dependent  vari-
       ables [listed in <STRONG><A HREF="terminfo.5.html">terminfo(5)</A></STRONG>].

       Applications  can use the terminal capabilities either di-
       rectly (via header definitions), or by special  functions.
       The  header  files  <STRONG>curses.h</STRONG> and <STRONG>term.h</STRONG> should be included
       (in this order) to get the definitions for these  strings,
       numbers, and flags.

       The  <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG>  variables <STRONG>lines</STRONG> and <STRONG>columns</STRONG> are initialized
       by <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> as follows:

       <STRONG>o</STRONG>   If <STRONG>use_env(FALSE)</STRONG> has been called,  values  for  <STRONG>lines</STRONG>
           and <STRONG>columns</STRONG> specified in <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> are used.

       <STRONG>o</STRONG>   Otherwise, if the environment variables <STRONG>LINES</STRONG> and <STRONG>COL-</STRONG>
           <STRONG>UMNS</STRONG> exist, their values are used.  If these  environ-
           ment variables do not exist and the program is running
           in a window, the current window size is used.   Other-
           wise,  if  the environment variables do not exist, the
           values for <STRONG>lines</STRONG> and <STRONG>columns</STRONG> specified in the <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG>
           database are used.

       Parameterized  strings  should  be passed through <STRONG>tparm</STRONG> to
       instantiate them.  All  <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG>  strings  [including  the
       output  of  <STRONG>tparm</STRONG>]  should  be printed with <STRONG>tputs</STRONG> or <STRONG>putp</STRONG>.
       Call <STRONG>reset_shell_mode</STRONG> to restore the tty modes before  ex-
       iting [see <STRONG><A HREF="curs_kernel.3x.html">curs_kernel(3x)</A></STRONG>].

       Programs which use cursor addressing should

       <STRONG>o</STRONG>   output <STRONG>enter_ca_mode</STRONG> upon startup and

       <STRONG>o</STRONG>   output <STRONG>exit_ca_mode</STRONG> before exiting.

       Programs which execute shell subprocesses should

       <STRONG>o</STRONG>   call  <STRONG>reset_shell_mode</STRONG>  and output <STRONG>exit_ca_mode</STRONG> before
           the shell is called and

       <STRONG>o</STRONG>   output <STRONG>enter_ca_mode</STRONG> and  call  <STRONG>reset_prog_mode</STRONG>  after
           returning from the shell.

       The <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> routine reads in the <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> database, ini-
       tializing the <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> structures, but does not set up the
       output  virtualization  structures  used by <STRONG>curses</STRONG>.  These
       are its parameters:

          <EM>term</EM> is the terminal type, a character string.  If <EM>term</EM>
               is null, the environment variable <STRONG>TERM</STRONG> is used.

          <EM>filedes</EM>
               is the file descriptor used for all output.

          <EM>errret</EM>
               points to an optional location where an error sta-
               tus can be returned to the caller.  If  <EM>errret</EM>  is
               not  null,  then  <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG>  returns <STRONG>OK</STRONG> or <STRONG>ERR</STRONG> and
               stores a status value in the integer pointed to by
               <EM>errret</EM>.  A return value of <STRONG>OK</STRONG> combined with status
               of <STRONG>1</STRONG> in <EM>errret</EM> is normal.

               If <STRONG>ERR</STRONG> is returned, examine <EM>errret</EM>:

               <STRONG>1</STRONG>    means that the terminal is  hardcopy,  cannot
                    be used for curses applications.

                    <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG>  determines if the entry is a hard-
                    copy type by checking the <STRONG>hc</STRONG> (<STRONG>hardcopy</STRONG>) capa-
                    bility.

               <STRONG>0</STRONG>    means  that  the terminal could not be found,
                    or that it is a generic type, having too lit-
                    tle  information  for  curses applications to
                    run.

                    <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> determines if the entry is a gener-
                    ic type by checking the <STRONG>gn</STRONG> (<STRONG>generic</STRONG>) capabil-
                    ity.

               <STRONG>-1</STRONG>   means that the <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> database could not be
                    found.

               If  <EM>errret</EM> is null, <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> prints an error mes-
               sage upon finding an error and exits.   Thus,  the
               simplest call is:

                     <STRONG>setupterm((char</STRONG> <STRONG>*)0,</STRONG> <STRONG>1,</STRONG> <STRONG>(int</STRONG> <STRONG>*)0);</STRONG>,

               which  uses  all the defaults and sends the output
               to <STRONG>stdout</STRONG>.

       The <STRONG>setterm</STRONG> routine was replaced by <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG>.  The call:

             <STRONG>setupterm(</STRONG><EM>term</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>1,</STRONG> <STRONG>(int</STRONG> <STRONG>*)0)</STRONG>

       provides the same  functionality  as  <STRONG>setterm(</STRONG><EM>term</EM><STRONG>)</STRONG>.   The
       <STRONG>setterm</STRONG>  routine is provided for BSD compatibility, and is
       not recommended for new programs.


</PRE><H3><a name="h3-The-Terminal-State">The Terminal State</a></H3><PRE>
       The <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> routine stores  its  information  about  the
       terminal  in a <STRONG>TERMINAL</STRONG> structure pointed to by the global
       variable <STRONG>cur_term</STRONG>.  If it detects  an  error,  or  decides
       that  the terminal is unsuitable (hardcopy or generic), it
       discards this information, making it not available to  ap-
       plications.

       If  <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG>  is  called repeatedly for the same terminal
       type, it will reuse the information.   It  maintains  only
       one copy of a given terminal's capabilities in memory.  If
       it is called for different terminal types, <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> allo-
       cates new storage for each set of terminal capabilities.

       The  <STRONG>set_curterm</STRONG> routine sets <STRONG>cur_term</STRONG> to <EM>nterm</EM>, and makes
       all of the <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> boolean, numeric, and string variables
       use  the  values  from <EM>nterm</EM>.  It returns the old value of
       <STRONG>cur_term</STRONG>.

       The <STRONG>del_curterm</STRONG> routine frees  the  space  pointed  to  by
       <EM>oterm</EM> and makes it available for further use.  If <EM>oterm</EM> is
       the same as <STRONG>cur_term</STRONG>, references to any  of  the  <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG>
       boolean,  numeric, and string variables thereafter may re-
       fer to invalid memory locations  until  another  <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG>
       has been called.

       The  <STRONG>restartterm</STRONG>  routine  is  similar  to  <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG>  and
       <STRONG>initscr</STRONG>, except that it is called after  restoring  memory
       to  a  previous  state (for example, when reloading a game
       saved as a core image dump).  <STRONG>restartterm</STRONG> assumes that the
       windows  and  the input and output options are the same as
       when memory was saved, but the terminal type and baud rate
       may  be different.  Accordingly, <STRONG>restartterm</STRONG> saves various
       tty state bits, calls <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG>,  and  then  restores  the
       bits.


</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Formatting-Output">Formatting Output</a></H3><PRE>
       The <STRONG>tparm</STRONG> routine instantiates the string <EM>str</EM> with parame-
       ters <EM>pi</EM>.  A pointer is returned to the result of <EM>str</EM>  with
       the  parameters  applied.   Application  developers should
       keep in mind these quirks of the interface:

       <STRONG>o</STRONG>   Although <STRONG>tparm</STRONG>'s actual parameters may be integers  or
           strings, the prototype expects <STRONG>long</STRONG> (integer) values.

       <STRONG>o</STRONG>   Aside  from  the <STRONG>set_attributes</STRONG> (<STRONG>sgr</STRONG>) capability, most
           terminal capabilities require no more than one or  two
           parameters.

       <STRONG>tiparm</STRONG>  is  a  newer  form  of <STRONG>tparm</STRONG> which uses <EM>&lt;stdarg.h&gt;</EM>
       rather than a fixed-parameter list.  Its  numeric  parame-
       ters are integers (int) rather than longs.


</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Output-Functions">Output Functions</a></H3><PRE>
       The  <STRONG>tputs</STRONG>  routine  applies  padding  information  to the
       string <EM>str</EM> and outputs it:

       <STRONG>o</STRONG>   The <EM>str</EM> must be a terminfo string variable or the  re-
           turn value from <STRONG>tparm</STRONG>, <STRONG>tgetstr</STRONG>, or <STRONG>tgoto</STRONG>.

       <STRONG>o</STRONG>   <EM>affcnt</EM>  is  the  number of lines affected, or 1 if not
           applicable.

       <STRONG>o</STRONG>   <EM>putc</EM> is a <STRONG>putchar</STRONG>-like routine to which the characters
           are passed, one at a time.

       The <STRONG>putp</STRONG> routine calls <STRONG>tputs(</STRONG><EM>str</EM><STRONG>,</STRONG> <STRONG>1,</STRONG> <STRONG>putchar)</STRONG>.  The output
       of <STRONG>putp</STRONG> always goes to <STRONG>stdout</STRONG>,  rather  than  the  <EM>filedes</EM>
       specified in <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG>.

       The <STRONG>vidputs</STRONG> routine displays the string on the terminal in
       the video attribute mode <EM>attrs</EM>, which is  any  combination
       of  the  attributes  listed in <STRONG><A HREF="ncurses.3x.html">curses(3x)</A></STRONG>.  The characters
       are passed to the <STRONG>putchar</STRONG>-like routine <EM>putc</EM>.

       The <STRONG>vidattr</STRONG> routine is like the  <STRONG>vidputs</STRONG>  routine,  except
       that it outputs through <STRONG>putchar</STRONG>.

       The  <STRONG>vid_attr</STRONG>  and <STRONG>vid_puts</STRONG> routines correspond to vidattr
       and vidputs, respectively.  They use a  set  of  arguments
       for representing the video attributes plus color, i.e.,

       <STRONG>o</STRONG>   <EM>attrs</EM> of type <STRONG>attr_t</STRONG> for the attributes and

       <STRONG>o</STRONG>   <EM>pair</EM> of type <STRONG>short</STRONG> for the color-pair number.

       The <STRONG>vid_attr</STRONG> and <STRONG>vid_puts</STRONG> routines are designed to use the
       attribute constants with the <EM>WA</EM><STRONG>_</STRONG> prefix.

       X/Open Curses reserves the <EM>opts</EM> argument for  future  use,
       saying  that  applications must provide a null pointer for
       that argument.  As an extension, this  implementation  al-
       lows  <EM>opts</EM> to be used as a pointer to <STRONG>int</STRONG>, which overrides
       the <EM>pair</EM> (<STRONG>short</STRONG>) argument.

       The <STRONG>mvcur</STRONG> routine provides low-level  cursor  motion.   It
       takes  effect  immediately  (rather  than  at the next re-
       fresh).


</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Terminal-Capability-Functions">Terminal Capability Functions</a></H3><PRE>
       The <STRONG>tigetflag</STRONG>, <STRONG>tigetnum</STRONG> and <STRONG>tigetstr</STRONG> routines  return  the
       value of the capability corresponding to the <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> <EM>cap-</EM>
       <EM>name</EM> passed to them, such as <STRONG>xenl</STRONG>.  The <EM>capname</EM>  for  each
       capability  is  given in the table column entitled <EM>capname</EM>
       code in the capabilities section of <STRONG><A HREF="terminfo.5.html">terminfo(5)</A></STRONG>.

       These routines return special values to denote errors.

       The <STRONG>tigetflag</STRONG> routine returns

       <STRONG>-1</STRONG>     if <EM>capname</EM> is not a boolean capability, or

       <STRONG>0</STRONG>      if it is canceled or absent from the  terminal  de-
              scription.

       The <STRONG>tigetnum</STRONG> routine returns

       <STRONG>-2</STRONG>     if <EM>capname</EM> is not a numeric capability, or

       <STRONG>-1</STRONG>     if  it  is canceled or absent from the terminal de-
              scription.

       The <STRONG>tigetstr</STRONG> routine returns

       <STRONG>(char</STRONG> <STRONG>*)-1</STRONG>
              if <EM>capname</EM> is not a string capability, or

       <STRONG>0</STRONG>      if it is canceled or absent from the  terminal  de-
              scription.


</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Terminal-Capability-Names">Terminal Capability Names</a></H3><PRE>
       These null-terminated arrays contain

       <STRONG>o</STRONG>   the short terminfo names ("codes"),

       <STRONG>o</STRONG>   the <STRONG>termcap</STRONG> names ("names", and

       <STRONG>o</STRONG>   the long terminfo names ("fnames")

       for each of the predefined <STRONG>terminfo</STRONG> variables:

              <STRONG>const</STRONG>   <STRONG>char</STRONG>  <STRONG>*boolnames[]</STRONG>,  <STRONG>*boolcodes[]</STRONG>,  <STRONG>*boolf-</STRONG>
              <STRONG>names[]</STRONG>
              <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*numnames[]</STRONG>, <STRONG>*numcodes[]</STRONG>, <STRONG>*numfnames[]</STRONG>
              <STRONG>const</STRONG> <STRONG>char</STRONG> <STRONG>*strnames[]</STRONG>, <STRONG>*strcodes[]</STRONG>, <STRONG>*strfnames[]</STRONG>


</PRE><H2><a name="h2-RETURN-VALUE">RETURN VALUE</a></H2><PRE>
       Routines that return an integer return  <STRONG>ERR</STRONG>  upon  failure
       and  <STRONG>OK</STRONG>  (SVr4 only specifies "an integer value other than
       <STRONG>ERR</STRONG>") upon successful completion, unless  otherwise  noted
       in the preceding routine descriptions.

       Routines that return pointers always return <STRONG>NULL</STRONG> on error.

       X/Open  defines  no error conditions.  In this implementa-
       tion

          <STRONG>del_curterm</STRONG>
               returns an error  if  its  terminal  parameter  is
               null.

          <STRONG>putp</STRONG> calls <STRONG>tputs</STRONG>, returning the same error-codes.

          <STRONG>restartterm</STRONG>
               returns  an  error  if  the associated call to <STRONG>se-</STRONG>
               <STRONG>tupterm</STRONG> returns an error.

          <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG>
               returns an error if it cannot allocate enough mem-
               ory,   or  create  the  initial  windows  (stdscr,
               curscr, newscr).  Other error conditions are docu-
               mented above.

          <STRONG>tputs</STRONG>
               returns  an error if the string parameter is null.
               It does not detect I/O errors: X/Open states  that
               <STRONG>tputs</STRONG> ignores the return value of the output func-
               tion <EM>putc</EM>.


</PRE><H2><a name="h2-PORTABILITY">PORTABILITY</a></H2><PRE>

</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Legacy-functions">Legacy functions</a></H3><PRE>
       X/Open notes that <STRONG>vidattr</STRONG> and <STRONG>vidputs</STRONG> may be macros.

       The function <STRONG>setterm</STRONG> is not described by X/Open  and  must
       be  considered  non-portable.   All other functions are as
       described by X/Open.


</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Legacy-data">Legacy data</a></H3><PRE>
       <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> copies the terminal name to the  array  <STRONG>ttytype</STRONG>.
       This  is not part of X/Open Curses, but is assumed by some
       applications.

       Other implementions may not declare  the  capability  name
       arrays.  Some provide them without declaring them.  X/Open
       does not specify them.

       Extended terminal capability names, e.g.,  as  defined  by
       <STRONG>tic</STRONG> <STRONG>-x</STRONG>, are not stored in the arrays described here.


</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Output-buffering">Output buffering</a></H3><PRE>
       Older versions of <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> assumed that the file descriptor
       passed to <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> from <STRONG>initscr</STRONG> or <STRONG>newterm</STRONG> uses  buffered
       I/O,  and would write to the corresponding stream.  In ad-
       dition to the limitation that the  terminal  was  left  in
       block-buffered mode on exit (like System V curses), it was
       problematic because <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> did not allow a  reliable  way
       to cleanup on receiving SIGTSTP.

       The current version (ncurses6) uses output buffers managed
       directly by <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG>.  Some of the low-level functions  de-
       scribed  in this manual page write to the standard output.
       They are not signal-safe.   The  high-level  functions  in
       <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG>  use  alternate  versions of these functions using
       the more reliable buffering scheme.


</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Function-prototypes">Function prototypes</a></H3><PRE>
       The X/Open Curses prototypes are based on the SVr4  curses
       header  declarations,  which were defined at the same time
       the C language was first standardized in the late 1980s.

       <STRONG>o</STRONG>   X/Open Curses uses <STRONG>const</STRONG> less effectively than a later
           design  might, in some cases applying it needlessly to
           values are already constant, and in most  cases  over-
           looking  parameters  which  normally  would use <STRONG>const</STRONG>.
           Using constant parameters for functions which  do  not
           use  <STRONG>const</STRONG> may prevent the program from compiling.  On
           the other hand, <EM>writable</EM> <EM>strings</EM>  are  an  obsolescent
           feature.

           As an extension, this implementation can be configured
           to change the function prototypes  to  use  the  <STRONG>const</STRONG>
           keyword.   The  ncurses  ABI 6 enables this feature by
           default.

       <STRONG>o</STRONG>   X/Open Curses prototypes <STRONG>tparm</STRONG> with a fixed number  of
           parameters, rather than a variable argument list.

           This implementation uses a variable argument list, but
           can be configured to  use  the  fixed-parameter  list.
           Portable  applications should provide 9 parameters af-
           ter the format; zeroes are fine for this purpose.

           In response to review comments by  Thomas  E.  Dickey,
           X/Open  Curses Issue 7 proposed the <STRONG>tiparm</STRONG> function in
           mid-2009.


</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Special-TERM-treatment">Special TERM treatment</a></H3><PRE>
       If configured to use the terminal-driver,  e.g.,  for  the
       MinGW port,

       <STRONG>o</STRONG>   <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG>  interprets a missing/empty TERM variable as
           the special value "unknown".

       <STRONG>o</STRONG>   <STRONG>setupterm</STRONG> allows explicit use of the the windows  con-
           sole driver by checking if $TERM is set to "#win32con"
           or an abbreviation of that string.


</PRE><H3><a name="h3-Other-portability-issues">Other portability issues</a></H3><PRE>
       In System V Release 4, <STRONG>set_curterm</STRONG> has an <STRONG>int</STRONG> return  type
       and  returns  <STRONG>OK</STRONG>  or <STRONG>ERR</STRONG>.  We have chosen to implement the
       X/Open Curses semantics.

       In System V Release 4, the third argument of <STRONG>tputs</STRONG> has the
       type <STRONG>int</STRONG> <STRONG>(*putc)(char)</STRONG>.

       At least one implementation of X/Open Curses (Solaris) re-
       turns a value other than OK/ERR from <STRONG>tputs</STRONG>.  That  returns
       the length of the string, and does no error-checking.

       X/Open  notes  that  after calling <STRONG>mvcur</STRONG>, the curses state
       may not match the actual terminal state, and that  an  ap-
       plication  should  touch and refresh the window before re-
       suming normal curses calls.  Both <STRONG>ncurses</STRONG> and System V Re-
       lease 4 curses implement <STRONG>mvcur</STRONG> using the SCREEN data allo-
       cated in either <STRONG>initscr</STRONG> or <STRONG>newterm</STRONG>.  So though it is docu-
       mented  as  a  terminfo function, <STRONG>mvcur</STRONG> is really a curses
       function which is not well specified.

       X/Open states that the old  location  must  be  given  for
       <STRONG>mvcur</STRONG>.   This implementation allows the caller to use -1's
       for the old ordinates.  In that case, the old location  is
       unknown.


</PRE><H2><a name="h2-SEE-ALSO">SEE ALSO</a></H2><PRE>
       <STRONG><A HREF="ncurses.3x.html">curses(3x)</A></STRONG>,  <STRONG><A HREF="curs_initscr.3x.html">curs_initscr(3x)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="curs_kernel.3x.html">curs_kernel(3x)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG>curs_term-</STRONG>
       <STRONG><A HREF="curs_termcap.3x.html">cap(3x)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="curs_variables.3x.html">curs_variables(3x)</A></STRONG>, <STRONG><A HREF="term_variables.3x.html">term_variables(3x)</A></STRONG>,  <STRONG>putc(3)</STRONG>,
       <STRONG><A HREF="terminfo.5.html">terminfo(5)</A></STRONG>



                                                      <STRONG><A HREF="curs_terminfo.3x.html">curs_terminfo(3x)</A></STRONG>
</PRE>
<div class="nav">
<ul>
<li><a href="#h2-NAME">NAME</a></li>
<li><a href="#h2-SYNOPSIS">SYNOPSIS</a></li>
<li><a href="#h2-DESCRIPTION">DESCRIPTION</a>
<ul>
<li><a href="#h3-Initialization">Initialization</a></li>
<li><a href="#h3-The-Terminal-State">The Terminal State</a></li>
<li><a href="#h3-Formatting-Output">Formatting Output</a></li>
<li><a href="#h3-Output-Functions">Output Functions</a></li>
<li><a href="#h3-Terminal-Capability-Functions">Terminal Capability Functions</a></li>
<li><a href="#h3-Terminal-Capability-Names">Terminal Capability Names</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><a href="#h2-RETURN-VALUE">RETURN VALUE</a></li>
<li><a href="#h2-PORTABILITY">PORTABILITY</a>
<ul>
<li><a href="#h3-Legacy-functions">Legacy functions</a></li>
<li><a href="#h3-Legacy-data">Legacy data</a></li>
<li><a href="#h3-Output-buffering">Output buffering</a></li>
<li><a href="#h3-Function-prototypes">Function prototypes</a></li>
<li><a href="#h3-Special-TERM-treatment">Special TERM treatment</a></li>
<li><a href="#h3-Other-portability-issues">Other portability issues</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><a href="#h2-SEE-ALSO">SEE ALSO</a></li>
</ul>
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